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Sunday, June 10, 2012

It's Okay to Be a Rookie, or a Tadpole

All writers have to, at some
point, start being a writer and paying dues. Just because you've written a
little book that you think is a Pulitzer Prize winner doesn't make it so,
doesn’t make you a Hemingway. What it does make you is a beginner, a naivest, a
rookie, and a sucker. And that's okay; that's how everyone starts—at the bottom
of the swamp, a lousy tadpole without legs to swim to the top.

So as a tadpole, what do you do?
You relax, keep your mouth shut, grow some legs, learn as you go, and develop your
talent. Don't just imagine you have the talent because you feel that you do;
allow others to confirm it. Prove it.

There will come a time in your
writing career when your voice will be strong, and I don't mean your

writing
voice. I am talking about the voice of a writer in demand. That is what you
aspire to become: a writer in demand. That gives you clout, that gives you
power, and that gives you the most important thing of all: options.

How you use that power will
determine how you survive in the literary world. If you stand upon your talent,
like a rooster on the dung heap and crow with your chest sticking out, you
are not humble and your fall will be great. When you come to your senses at the
bottom of the pile, you will smell the stench of your arrogance. How you deal
with the odiferous smell of your stupidity will judge how fast you recover
and how far you climb the next time.

Remember, it’s okay to be a
rookie. Anyway, there is no other way. Beginnings are good things. But don't be
a stupid, arrogant sucker. Keep your mouth shut, learn, be patient, and the
literary jungle will allow you to, at least, survive.

Looking forward to hearing about your own writing experiences and your thoughts on my first book, Forgiving Waters.